Bottle-stopper



INVERNTOH: i j mA/MM ffl/' V Jrley C. G. HUTO'HINSON. Bottle-Stopper No. 225,476. Pate'nted Mar. 16, 1880.

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shown in detail the manner of connecting` the UNITED STATES t CHARLES G. HU'ICHINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,476, dated March 16, 1880.

4 Application led December 8, 1879. l

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES G. lIU'rcHIiv` sON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Stoppers, of which the following', in connection with the accompanying' drawings, is a specification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical central section of the upper part or neck of a bottle, showing a side view therein of a stopper embodying my invention and in position for closing the neck; and Fig. 2 is a like representation, excepting that it shows an edge view of the stopper in position for leaving the neck open.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

A represents the neck of a bottle. B is a rubber disk conned between two metallic disks, C and I), the latter or lower one of which is larger than the other metallic disk, but not so large as the disk B, as shown.

The disks C and D are connected to each other centrally byla neck passing centrally through the disk B, or by means of a wire, to which the metallic disks may be either molded or otherwise attached 5 but I have not here said disks, as the construction, relative arrange- Inent, and mode of connection are old and well known, and fornilno part of my present invention, excepting as connected with the features' of construction relating to the remaining parts of the stopper, and hereinafter specifically set forth, my object in referring' to these disks as particularly as I have now done being to distinguish valves of this class to 'which my in vention is applicable from others, such as tapering plugs adapted to sustain themselves with certainty in the neck, so as to close it effectually even when the contents ofthe bottle are not effervescent.

E is an elongated eye or loop applied to the metallic disks above referred to, and arranged transversely with relation to them, and so as to project into the neck, as clearly shown in Fig. l. I make the eye or loop E of wire.

F is a spring-wire centrally bent upon itself, as shown, and the lower parts or ends of which stand apart from each other a distance about equal to the length of the loop E, and which ends'are bent around the cross-bar of the said loop so as to inclose the same loosely enough to allow the said ends to move freely back and forth on the said-bar without danger of being detached therefrom.

The loop formed by the spring F is centrally contracted, so that it conforms to the contracted part of the neck of the bottle to a greater or less extent.

It will be perceived, from the foregoing description and from reference to the drawings, that an upper and lower enlargement are thus formed in the spring or loop F, and that the upper enlargement will suspend the spring and disk B in an open position, and that the lower enlargement will then hold the said disk approximately in a central position below the neck, and also suspend and hold the said disk in its closed position when the said spring or loop is drawn up into the position shown in Fig. 1, it being understood that the spring F, by being connected to the loop or eye Ein the manner shown and described7 is capable of lateral contraction and expansion while being moved up and down in the neck for the purpose of closing and opening the bottle.

It will also be perceived that both the lower ends of the spring or loop F may move laterally on the cross-bar of the loop or eye E, the said bar being long enough to admit of this movement and of the expansion of the lower enlarged part of the spring or loop F against the interior of the neck, as and for the purposes described, but not too long to allow the disk B to be raised to its closed position.

It will also be perceived that the Lipper enlargement of the spring or loop F enters the neck ofthe bottle when the disk B is in its open position, and that the lower enlargement is in the neckwhen tbe said disk is in its closed position, and that the said disk is at all times held in its various positions by means of the lateral expansion of the spring or loop F against the interior of the neck;

I am aware that a bail having an enlarge ment at its upper end sufficiently great not to enter the neck of the bottle has heretofore been combined with a tapering plug adapted to hold itself in its closed position in the upper part of the neck, and at such a height therein as to permitthe said bail to be then laid horizontally outside of the neck, the said enlargement, by

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resting on the upper end ofthe neck, performing the function of suspending the said plug with certainty in its open position, and the remaining part of the bail being broad enough to hold the plug in, or nearly in, a central p0- sition with relation to the neck when so suspended, and I do not, therefore, here intend to claim such.

I am also aware th at internal bottle-Stoppers have heretofore been so constructed as to be held, by various other means, either in their open or closed position but, with the exceptions hereinafter stated, I am not aware that internal bottle-Stoppers have heretofore been so constructed as to be held automaticall y both in their open and closed position alternately by means of a laterally expanding` and contracting spring loop applied to a flat or disk-shaped valve.

rPhe exceptions above referred to are shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States of America issued to me for improvernents in bottle-stoppers, and numbered 213,992, dated April 8,1879, and reissued June 17, 1879, the reissue number being 8,755, and No. 219,729, dated September 16, 1879, and I do not here intend to claim any of the said improvements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The flat or disk-shaped valve B, the laterally-elongated eye E, and the centrally-contracted spring-loop F, having an open lower end and upper and lower enlargements, both adapted to enter the neck of a bott-le, and both lower ends of the wire of the said loop having therein eyes or openings for freely receiving and suspending the cross-bar of the eye E, all combined and constituting an internal bottle-stopper adapted to he held both in its open and closed positions alternately by means of the said loop, substantially as specified.

CHARLES Gr. HU'IGHINSON.

Witnesses:

F. F. WARNER., W. S. BAKER. 

